Why partial side trips matter

A spur side trip — Bahamas out of Stuart, Nashville up the Cumberland, Knoxville up the Tennessee, St. Johns up from Jacksonville, Boston Harbor, the Champlain Canal, the Potomac — used to be all-or-nothing. Either you went the full out-and-back, or you skipped the spur entirely.

That doesn't match how cruisers actually move. You might run halfway up the St. Johns and turn around, or take Nashville to a specific marina and head back. So we built partial side trips: pick a turnaround point along the spur and everything downstream of that point gets honored — distance, days, fuel, briefings, the cinematic, the U-turn marker on the map.

Setting a turnaround

When a spur side trip is selected, a Turnaround chip appears on it. Tap it and a modal opens with two ways to pick where you turn around:

• Pick on the map — the planner auto-zooms to the spur so you can tap exactly where you want to turn around
• Pick a facility — search a marina or anchorage along the spur and the turnaround snaps to it

Everything updates

Once a turnaround is set, the trip statistics reflect the partial distance and the partial days. The fuel calculator and trip budget adjust. The cinematic plays out to your turnaround point and back. The map shows a U-turn marker at the turnaround. Briefings reaching the turnaround day get a heads-up.

Reset whenever

Change your mind? The turnaround chip has a Reset button. Clear it and the side trip goes back to the full out-and-back.

Which side trips support this

All twelve spur-shaped side trips on the Great Loop: Bahamas, Nashville, Knoxville, St. Johns, Boston Harbor, Champlain Canal, Potomac / D.C., Miami ICW South, plus the four side trips on the Down East Loop (Penobscot Bay, Bras d'Or Lake, Cape Breton, St. Pierre & Miquelon). Loop sections themselves — Lake Michigan, Tenn-Tom vs Mississippi, etc. — aren't affected; they're still all-or-nothing.